A patent could have given him ownership of hashtags as an HTML-activated device that allows Twitter users to sort their feeds by topic. In theory, he could have licensed hashtags to Twitter made a huge sum of money.

Of course, that's not what happened.

Messina first proposed that Twitter users use a hashtag to create "groups" back in 2007. Here is his famous, first-ever tweet using a hashtag:

how do you feel about using # (pound) for groups. As in #barcamp [msg]?

claiming a government-granted monopoly on the use of hashtags would have likely inhibited their adoption, which was the antithesis of what I was hoping for, which was broad-based adoption and support — across networks and mediums.

I had no interest in making money (directly) off hashtags. They are born of the Internet, and should be owned by no one. The value and satisfaction I derive from seeing my funny little hack used as widely as it is today is valuable enough for me to be relieved that I had the foresight not to try to lock down this stupidly simple but effective idea.